Congress Asked To Make ICAO Appointment

Fourteen aviation trade groups signed aletter to the heads of the Senate foreign relations committee asking for quick action to name Donald Bliss as the next U.S. representative to the International Civil Aviation Organization, a position that has been vacant since Edward Stimpson stepped down last fall. “Having an Ambassador in place quickly is crucial,” the letter said, “because of the upcoming election of a new Secretary General of the ICAO General Assembly at the end of February.” The U.S. has William Voss in the running for the Secretary General position, and “without an ambassador-rank official at ICAO, the U.S. is disadvantaged in persuading like-minded states to support the U.S. candidate.” The trade groups also believe that the “long and continued absence of a U.S. ambassador threatens to harm our ability to shape safety, security and environmental regulations for international aviation.” Groups who signed the letter included all the major business and general aviation associations.